Security vault

ABSTRACT

A SECURITY VAULT FOR STORING COIN RECEPTACLES AND THE LIKE INCLUDES A VERTICAL SECTIONED DOORWAY IN REGISTRATION WITH GROUPS OF COMPARTMENTS IN A MULTITIER CAROUSEL. UPON EACH COMPLETE ROTATION OF THE CAROUSEL, A VERTICAL SECURITY BAR IS MOVED TO THE CENTER OF THE DOORWAY TO PREVENT ACCESS TO THE RECEPTACLES BY UNAUTHORIZED PERSONNEL. THE BAR IS RELEASED BY CLOSING ANY ONE OF A PLURALITY OF SLIDING DOOR OVER THE SECTION OF THE DOORWAY CORRESPONDING TO A COMPLETELY FILLED TIER. THE SLIDING DOOR IS THEN AUTOMATICALLY LOCKED IN A CLOSED POSITION. MEANS ARE ALSO PROVIDED FOR CLOSING THE SLIDING DOORS IN A PREDETERMINED SEQUENCE AND FOR UNLOCKING ALL THE DOORS SIMULTANEOUSLY.

United States Patent 1,570,882 1/1926 Ellison 2,736,628 2/1956 Fadden 312/305 Primary Examiner-Reinaldo P. Machado Attorneylatrick J. Roche ABSTRACT: A security vault for storing coin receptacles and the like includes a vertical sectioned doorway in registration with groups of compartments in a multitier carousel. Upon each complete rotation of the carousel, a vertical security bar is moved to the center of the doorway to prevent access to the receptacles by unauthorized personnel. The bar is released by closing any one of a plurality of sliding doors over the section of the doorway corresponding to a completely filled tier. The sliding door is then'automatically locked in a closed position. Means are also provided for closing the sliding doors in a predetermined sequence and for unlocking all the doors simultaneously.

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SECURITY VAULT BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION This invention relates to security vaults and, more particularly, to such vaults incorporated in a motor vehicle for use in the collection or storage of coin receptacles and the like.

The collection of coin receptacles from vending machines, telephone booths and the like generally requires the use of a vehicle to stove and transport the receptacles safely'to a station where them they are removed from the vehicle and perhaps emptied of their contents. Such a vehicle naturally must include a vault which prevents access by unauthorized personnel to the receptacles being temporarily stored therein. In one vault arrangement common to the prior art a multitier carousel is incorporated in the rear of a panel truck, the carousel being inserted into and removed from the truck through its rear doors. The driver-collector inserts the receptacles into compartments on the rotatable carousel, having access to all parts of the carousel at all times. Unfortunately it is the driver-collector, as well as others, who present the most difficult problem with respect to violations of the security of such vaults. Since the driver-collector has such ready access to the receptacles at all times, it often occurs that such personnel larcenously remove the collected receptacles.

It is therefore a broad object of this invention to provide a security vault for the storage of valuables.

It is another object of this invention to provide a security vault readily incorporated into a motor vehicle for the collection and transportation of valuables.

It is still another objectof this invention to provide a multicompartment vault which prevents unauthorized access to valuables once they have been inserted into such compartmerits.

It is still another object of this invention to provide such a security vault in a multitiered carousel arrangement adapted to prevent unauthorized access to each tier as it is filled with receptacles.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION These and other objects are accomplished in accordance with an illustrative embodiment of the invention, a security vault for use in a security vehicle for collecting coin receptacles and the like. The vault includes a rear doorway to which only a custodian has access and a vertical sectioned front doorway to which a driver-collector has limited accessfor the insertion of the receptacles into the vault. The vault comprises a carousel rotatable within a cage, the cage having an opening which is aligned with the vertical doorway. The carousel comprises a plurality of tiers and a plurality of separate compartments in each tier for receiving the inserted receptacles. Vertical groups of the compartments, one in each tier, are in registration with the sectioned doorway upon each incremental rotation of the carousel. As each tier is filled with receptacles, a hook on the bottom of the carousel actuates a vertical security bar which moves to the center of the front doorway thus preventing access to all tiers by unauthorized personnel. To fill any remaining empty tiers, the vertical security bar is released by closing a spring loaded sliding door across the front doorway section corresponding to the filled tier. This door is locked into position by spring clips and cannot be released until a custodian enters the rear doorway to actuate a lever which frees the spring clips. Means are also provided for insuring that the sliding doors are closed in a predetermined sequence e.g. from bottom to top.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING The above and other objects of the invention, together with its various features and advantages, can be easily understood from the following more detailed discussion, taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, in which:

FIG. 1A is a pictorial rear view of a portion of a security vault in accordance with an illustrative embodiment of the invention with the carousel shown in place;

FIG. 1B is an enlarged view of the encircled portion of FIG. 1A;

FIG. 2 is a rear elevation view of the invention in FIG. 1A with the carousel removed;

FIG. 3 is a front elevation view of the invention in FIG. 1A with the vertical security bar in the locked position;

FIG. 4A is a partial pictorial and partial front elevation view of corrugated sliding doors, in accordance with one embodiment of the invention in FIG. 1A, adapted with means for reqiuiring the doors to be closed in a predetermined sequence; an

FIG. 4B is an enlarged view of the encircled means of FIG. 4A for establishing the predetermined closing sequence of the sliding doors in FIG. 1A. 1

DETAILED DESCRIPTION Turning now to FIG. 1A, there is shown a pictorial rear view of a security vault 10 in accordance with an illustrative embodiment of the invention. The vault I0 is typically rigidly incorporated into the rear of a motor vehicle (not shown), e.g., a panel truck. In such an environment the frame 11 is located toward the front of the truck and extends across the full width thereof. The top and sides (shown open) are enclosed, respectively, by a metal cover and the interior sidewalls of the truck.

A multitiered rotatable carousel 12 is removably located between the frame 11 and the rear doors of the truck and is inserted into and removed from the truck through its rear doors to which only a custodian, and generally not the driver-collector, has access. In addition, the carousel 12 is included within a fixed wire mesh cage (not shown) which does not rotate with the carousel. The cage has a vertical opening aligned with the vertical sectioned doorway 14 of the vault 10, thereby to permit the insertion of coin receptacles and the like through the doorway and cage into the compartments 13 of carousel 12.

Incremental rotation of the carousel 12 is effected by means of rod 20 (FIG. 3) coupled to the vault front door 21 by means of hinge 23. Door 21 is hinge-mounted on the vault for pivotal opening and closing to obtain access to the carousel 12. As the door 21 is closed, rod 20 is disposed in a slot 22 located in the base of the carousel (FIG. 1A) causing the latter to rotate an amount equal to the width of one compartment 13, provided that clutch 16 is first depressed. As shown in FIG. 3, clutch 16 is semicircular in shape and partially encircles finger 18 so that depression of the clutch causes the finger 18 to withdraw from slot 22. Alternatively, the carousel 12 can be rotated by hand without closing the vault door 21.

STRUCTURE Referring now more specifically to the structure of the security vault 10, the frame 11 comprises a pair of vertical supports'24 and 26 defining doorway 14 which is sectioned by parallel cross-pieces 28, the sections of doorway 14 being in registration with vertical groups of compartments 13, one on each tier, of carousel 12. A third vertical support 30 is coupled to support 24 by means of horizontal members 32 which contain horizontal slots (not shown) for carrying horizontal sliding doors 34. The three supports 26, 24 and 30 are joined at their tops by horizontal member 36.

Each of the doors 34 includes a spring 38 connected thereto and to vertical support 30. In addition, at the rear of each door is a triangular fin 40 for releasing the security bar of the invention, as will be described hereinafter. Also connected to support 30 are angular spring clips 44 for holding each door 34 in a locked position when closed i.e., as shown with reference to the bottom door, the leg 44a of spring clip 44 snaps into position behind the rear edge of the door to prevent it from being opened through the front of the vault. The spring clips are released from the rear of the vault 10 by pulling rod 46 which is rotatably connected by loop 46:: to the vertical arm 50b of rotatable bar 48. The bar 48 is supported at its top by apertured mount 52 on horizontal support 36 and at its bottom by apertured mount 54 connected to the bottom of frame 11. The

bar 48 is eccentrically mounted such that is horizontal dimension parallel to frame 11 is greater than its horizontal dimension perpendicular thereto. Consequently, upon rotation the bar 48 urges against angular portion 44b of each slip 44 so as to force leg 44a away from the rear edge of door 34.

The security bar 60 of the invention is connected vertically between separated horizontal sliding bars 62 and 64 which are inserted through apertures in vertical supports 24 and 26. Sliding rod 62 has at one end a vertical arm 66 rotatably inserted through an aperture in one end of link 68. The links 68-68 are connected by release bar 42. The other end of link 68 is pivoted with link 70 which is rigidly affixed to rotatable vertical bar 72 supported by apertured mounts 74 and 76 affixed to support member 30. Sliding bar 64 is similarly coupled to bar 72, the bottom end of which is first bent horizontally and then vertically into vertical arm 720. Control rod 74' has at its end a loop 74a encircling the vertical arm 72a of bar 72. Arm 72a is also restrained by spring 75 connected to mount 77 on base 79 of vault 10. The control bar 74' is connected to lever 81 which is pivoted at point 80 on mount 78, the latter also being affixed to base 79.

OPERATION In operation, the door 21 of the vault is opened to expose the sectioned vertical doorway 14. At this stage, the security bar 60 is at the side of doorway 14 as shown in FIG. 1. Coin receptacles and the like are inserted through the bottom section, for example, into the compartments 13 of the bottom tier of carousel 12. After each receptacle is inserted, the carousel is rotated by an amount sufficient to bring the next adjacent compartment into registration with the doorway. This rotation is effected either by hand or as shown in FIGS. 1A and 3, by closing vault door 21. As mentioned previously, closing door 21, and depressing clutch 16 to disengage pin 18 from the slots 22 in the bottom of the carousel 12, permits rod to dispose in a slot 22 and to rotate the carousel.

Generally the receptacles are inserted in the bottom tier until it is filled before any receptacles are placed in the upper tiers. Once a receptacle is inserted and the carousel is rotated, toggle 83 (FIG. 1B), which is disposed in one of the slots 22, prevents backward rotation of the carousel and thus prevents the driver-collector or other unauthorized personnel from gaining access to the stored receptacles; The toggle 83 is pivoted at point 85 on post 87 which is mounted on base 79 and is adapted with a curved end 86 so that rotation of the carousel in the direction of the arrow causes the toggle to be pushed out of the slot 22. However, the toggle is balanced or spring loaded, for example, so that upon the completion of each incremental rotation of the carousel, it is once again disposed within a slot, thereby preventing backward rotation.

Additional security is provided after each complete rotation of the carousel (e.g., as each tier is filled). Namely, hook 82 on the bottom of the carousel engages pivoted arm 81 which moves forward and forces rod 74' to rotate bar 72 which is then held in position by spring 75. The rotation of bar 72 extends the link mechanism 68-70 causing the sliding rods 62- --64 to move horizontally and to move security bar 60 from its normal side position to a blocking position 60 in the center of doorway 14, thus effectively preventing the removal of receptacles from the carousel 12.

To gain access to any empty upper tiers it is necessary for the collector to close the bottom sliding door 34 thus blocking the bottom section of doorway 14. Two things happen. First, spring 38 is extended and spring clip 44 snaps into position, thus locking the door 34. Secondly, as the triangular fin 40 on the rear of door 34 passes release bar 42, its oblique edge urges against the bar 42, its oblique edge urges against the bar 42, collapses the link mechanism 6870 and causes the security bar to return to its normal side position 60. Thus at this stage, access to the bottom tier is blocked by locked bottom door 34 while the upper tiers are free to be filled.

As each tier is filled, the above operation is repeated until all the tiers are filled and all sliding doors are locked, at which time the driver-collector returns to his station where a custodian opens the rear doors of the security vehicle. The custodian removes the entire carousel 12 and pulls the rod 46 causing bar 48 to rotate and to release spring clips 44. Consequently, the springs 38 cause the doors 34 to slide open.

It is understood that the above-described arrangements are merely illustrative of the many possible specific embodiments which can be devised to represent application of the principles of the invention. Numerous and varied other arrangements can be devised in accordance with these principles by those skilled in the art without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention. In particular, in a preferred embodiment shown in FIGS. 4A and 4B, the doors 34 are shown to be corrugated. This type of structure permits the doors to be lighter in weight and additionally allows the springs 38 to be positioned within one of the channels 39 formed by the corrugated form.

Each door is further provided with means for requiring the doors to be closed in a predetermined sequence i.e., each door has at one end a vertical tab 84 positioned such that the tabs of adjacent doors vertically overlap. The tab may be formed by a flat metal member having a 90 twist 84a at each end as shown in FIG. 4B. The twisted ends of adjacent doors overlap and abut, thus, as shown in FIG. 4A, preventing the upper door from being closed before the bottom door. Similarly arranged tabs on all doors allow the latter to be closed in any preselected sequence.

1 claim: v

1. A security vault for the storage of receptacles containing valuables comprising a rotatable carousel located within said vault, said carousel having at least one tier and a plurality of compartments in each such tier for receiving said receptacles,

a sectioned doorway having at least one opening in registration with at least one of said compartments upon each incremental rotation of said carousel to permit the insertion of said receptacles into said compartment,

first means responsive to each complete rotation of said carousel for releasably blocking all of said openings of said sectioned doorway, thereby blocking access to all of said compartments, and 7 second means for simultaneously releasing said first blocking means and for blocking at least one of said openings of said doorway.

2. The security vault of claim 1 wherein said carousel comprises a first plurality of of tiers and a second plurality of compartments in each of said tiers, and

said sectioned doorway has a plurality of separate vertically spaced openings equal in number to said first tier plurality, said openings being in registration with a vertical group of said compartments, one in each of said tiers, upon each incremental rotation of said carousel, thereby to permit access to said compartments in registration only.

3. The security vault of claim 2 wherein said first means comprises a vertical security bar having at least a normal position in which said bar permits access to said compartments in registration and a blocking position in which said bar extends vertically across all of said openings thereby preventing access to each of said compartments in registration, and

means responsive to one complete rotation of said carousel for moving said vertical security bar from its normal position to its blocking position.

4. The security vault of claim 3 wherein said responsive means for moving said security bar comprises a pair of horizontally slidable horizontal parallel rods located at the top and bottom of said doorway, said vertical security bar being rigidly affixed between said horizontal rods,

a pair of pivoted link mechanisms having an extended position and a collapsed position, one of said mechanisms being connected to one end of each of said horizontal rods,

means responsive to one complete rotation of said carousel for causing both of said link mechanisms to change from their collapsed to their extended positions, thereby to slide horizontally said parallel rods and to move said security bar from its normal position to its blocking position, and

means for releasably maintaining said link mechanisms in their extended positions and said security bar in its blocking position.

5. The security vault of claim 4 wherein each of said link mechanisms comprises first and second links having one end pivotally connected to each other, the free end of each of said second links being pivotally connected to one of said parallel rods, and a vertical support bar rigidly affixed between said second links, and

wherein said responsive means for changing the position of said link mechanism from collapsed to extended comprises a rotatable vertical slave bar having at one end a rigid horizontal arm and a rigid vertical arm connected to the free end of said horizontal arm, the free end of each of said fust links being rigidly connected to said slave bar,

a horizontal control rod having one end pivotally connected to said vertical arm,

pivot means connected to said control rod at an intermediate point along its length for imparting motion to said rod along its longitudinal axis, and

hook means affixed to said carousel for engaging said pivot means thereby to move said control rod so that said slave bar rotates and causes said link mechanism to assume its extended position, and

where said maintaining means comprises a spring having one end connected to the free end of said vertical arm of said slave bar and the other end rigidly affixed to the base of said vault.

6. The security vault of claim 5 wherein said second means for simultaneously releasing said first blocking means and for blocking at least'one of said openings of said doorway comprises a plurality of horizontally slidable doors equal in number to the number of said openings in said doorway and adapted to be separately moved to close sequentially said openings,

means afiixed to each of said doors for urging against said support bar joining said second links, when said link 1 mechanism is in its extended position and upon the closing of each of said doors, thereby to cause said link mechanism to assume its collapsed position and said security bar to assume its normal position.

7. The security vault of claim 6 wherein said urging means comprises a triangular shaped fin extending from said door, an oblique edge of said fin being tapered in the direction of the motion of said doors, thereby to urge against said support bar upon the closing of said door."

8. The security vault of claim 7 in combination'with means for releasably locking said doors and preventing their unlocking from the exterior of said vault comprising on each door a spring connected thereto and to the side of said vault for urging said door open,

associated with each door a spring clip which snaps into position behind said door when opened so that said spring urges said door against said clip thereby to prevent said door from being opened from the exterior of said vault.

9. The security vault of claim 8 wherein each of said spring clips comprises a first resilient member connected to said vault at an acute angle to its associated door, and a second resilient member connected to the free end of said first member and extending substantially perpendicularly to said door and urging therea ainst, so that upon the opening of said door said second mem er snaps in place behind the edge of said door.

10. The security vault of claim 9 wherein each of said doors is corrugated thus forming plurality of horizontal channels, said spring connected thereto being disposed in one of said channels.

11. The security vault of claim 10 wherein said doors in clude means for requiring them to be closed in a predetermined sequence comprising on the same end of each of said doors a vertically protruding tab which overlaps andis proximate to the tab of the door adjacent itself.

12. The security vault of claim 11 for use in a vehicle for the collection and storage of coin receptacles in the compartments of said carousel, said vehicle having rear doors, the interior sidewalls and floor of said vehicle forming, respectively, the sides and bottom of said vault, the rear doors of said vehicle forming the rear wall of said vault, said vehicle including therein a rigid cover to form the top of said vault, said doorway facing the front of said vehicle and its driver-collector, the frame thereof extending the full width of the interior of said vehicle, and in combination with means for simultaneously unlocking all of said doors comprising a vertical rod rotatably mounted behind each of said first resilient membersof said spring clips, said rod eccentrically mounted so that upon its rotation about a longitudinal axis thereof, a portion of said rod urges against each of said first members thereby causing said second resilient members to be moved out from behind the edges of said doors.

13. The security vault of claim 12 wherein said simultaneous unlocking means includes a horizontal arm connected to said vertical rod, a vertical arm connected to the free end of 14. The security vault of claim 13 wherein said first control rod for changing the position of said link mechanism extends horizontally to the rear of said vehicle, thereby to permit the position of said security bar to be changed upon the opening of the rear doors of said vehicle and the translation of said rod along its longitudinal axis.

15. The security vault of claim 14 wherein said vault includes a vertical hinged front door which extends over all of said openings of said doorway simultaneously and said carousel includes on its perimeter a plurality of notches uniformly spaced, and in combination with a shaft hinged to said front door and removably disposed in one of said notches so that upon the closing of said front door said carousel is incrementally rotated, said notches being spaced such that the extent of said rotation is sufficient to maintain a different vertical group of said compartments in registration with said sectioned doorway upon the completion of each such incremental rotation, and

clutch means for releasably engaging the notches of said carousel, thereby to permit said rotation upon the actuating of said clutch means.

16. The security vault of claim 15 in combination with means for preventing the backward rotation of said carousel comprising a toggle pivotally mounted on the base of said vault and having one end thereof removably disposed in one of said notches, said toggle having said end curvedto that forward rotation pivots said toggle out of said notch so as to per-. mit rotation of said carousel, whereas attempted backward rotation of said carousel, whereas attempted backward rotation lodges said end of said toggle into said notch, thereby preventing such backward rotation, said toggle further being adapted to automatically return to disposition within one of said notches after each incremental forward rotation of said carousel. 

